-- he is, after all, owner of the Portland Winter Hawks and a noted fan of stick and puck. Durrett says Canuck Tom Gaglardi's the last man standing, but who knows. Because maybe John Shannon of Sportsnet

Speaking of Hicks keeping control of his sports teams: As we've noted here once or twice in recent days, Hicks has been trying to keep the Royal Bank of Scotland from taking Liverpool FC by October 6, should he and George Gillett fail to come up with the £237 million needed to repay their debts. To which the Liverpool board says: No, no, no, no, no, no, never, never, never, no. When asked if the anvil-headed Texas billionaire and Gillett would be able to refinance the debt, going so far as to use the team and its assets as collateral, Reds managing director Christian Purslow put it thusly: "That would require board approval, and the other members of the board have made it clear that's not what we want to see happen."